In this July 2018, file photo, St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation President and CEO Terence Bowles, right, addresses the annual general meeting of the corporation. The corporation and the union representing lock workers have reached an agreement through 2021. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

CORNWALL, Ont. – Unionized workers with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation have ratified a new three year agreement.

Seaway President Terence Bowles said Thursday (Oct. 18), the agreement was reached earlier this month and allowed the seaway to run uninterrupted “to the thousands of entities that depend upon marine transportation.”

Terms of the deal with Unifor, covering the 460 employees, were not provided.

In 2014, a strike was narrowly averted as both sides took their contract dispute to arbitration. The main sticking point was the seaway’s plan to automate the locks, eliminating some positions. That project has since been completed.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation operates the Canadian locks and channels. Over 160 million metric tons of cargo move through the seaway every year.